[center][h2]Elise Kim[/h2][h3][i]The Horizon[/i] — Hangar[/h3][/center]
Working off of a timer as she was, Elise wasted no time in making her way back to her room and changing into something a bit more suitable for the weather outside. As comfortable as her current clothes were, walking out in a spring night with them—delivering a bunch of goods to the soldiers below, no less—seemed both stupid and tone-deaf.

Making sure to don a light windbreaker before she left, the half-Korean girl quickly ran back towards the hangar, where it seemed that Xuan-Yu had decided to not simply set out without her. Of course, Hoshiko's delivery would likely have played a part in that decision, given how she had brought over [i]actual[/i] food instead of snacks, but ultimately the reason mattered less to the Pilot than the result in this case.

"Sorry for the wait..." she said as she re-entered the room to hear Hoshiko's scream of triumph over... Something or another. With an expression of confusion plain to see on her face, Elise turned towards the source to see the younger Japanese girl in what felt like a somewhat uncomfortable position with the boxes of karaage stacked in her arms.

"...Need some help?"

Without waiting to see if the girl would even accept (which, all things considered, she likely wouldn't if given the chance), Elise quickly walked over and slid a few boxes off of the stack that Hoshiko was carrying into her own arms before placing them with the rest of the food and drinks that were being prepared.

"Good to see I made it, though," she said, deciding to take a seat as the rest of the food was loaded onto the aircraft. "I'm ready whenever you are."

[hr]
Once everything had been loaded on and the people who had decided to tag along had entered, the hangar's door would slowly open and allow the aircraft to slowly lift off and depart the ship. Ordinarily, one would have expected the door to have not opened at all and their efforts denied, but it seemed that there was at least [i]one[/i] other party sympathetic to what Xuan-Yu had intended to do.

The flight towards the secured zone, unexpected as it was, immediately caused a buzz within the JSDF forces below. Though there were still a few patrols milling about, most of the group was concentrated within the camps in the center—likely in part due to the security cameras installed in the region to allow them to monitor the area without worrying about losing good men and women to any stray Warped that had somehow managed to escape the last few sweeps of the region.

Once the aircraft was brought closer to the ground, though, the Pilots within would be greeted by a man in his late fourties, his brow furrowed as he stared at the group as his suit and tie were buffetted by the wind. Once it had landed, though, the clearly-irate man decided to simply speak candidly towards the group.

"I didn't hear anything from the commander about further reinforcements," he said, glancing at the group and what they were wearing. "Is there something that you need?"

"Ah... Well, not that [i]we[/i] need, no, but—" Elise began to say, only to be promptly cut off in turn.

"Then I would recommend you head back. We are in the middle of a military operation, after all, and so—"

"Takemiya-san? Is there a problem?"

Just as he had been cut off moments before, the voice of someone else cut through the conversation. The source—a young man with light brown hair—quickly ran over once he saw exactly who the man was talking to.

"Oh, you're the Pilots they asked to help with the operation here today, right?" he asked, a bright smile on his face as he looked at the group. "I'm Kougami Akio, a Frame Pilot working for the JSDF. I didn't get to see you guys in action since I was assigned to help with the other offensive to the north, but everyone's been speaking pretty highly of you since I arrived. So... What brings you here?"

Compared to the more taciturn response of the other man, Akio's demeanor seemed a bit less standoffish—and given how 'Takemiya-san' had chosen not to respond, maybe this encounter would be in their favor.

[@ERode][@VitaVitaAR][@Laduguer]